The Lost Zeti
by PockyNerd
Summary: Tails stumbles onto a clue of where to find one of the few missing children from Future City. However, it seems that she is sick to the point that nothing can save her except maybe if her brothers and sisters steal the Earths essence again. Even more troubling is she refuses to recognize herself as anything but a Zeti. However, will her human heart get in the way of a cure?
1. Chapter 1

The Green Hills were overly windy today. If Sonic tried running through it the wind would stab him like a million tiny needles. A windy day like this often brought trash in from the cities around them. From Future City one type of trash always caught his and Tails' eyes were the missing posters of children and adults. Not many people went missing in the city but when someone did, especially a child, the cities whole police team was on it. It was the perfect time for criminals to come out and splurge until the child was found.

A missing poster got stuck to Sonic's leg, pinned by the wind. He grabbed it and took a look at it. The poster reads:

Missing: Amy Powers

Age: Approx. 16 years

If you have any information please call…

Amy Powers. The name was too familiar to Sonic. She's been missing since she was a baby. She simply disappeared off the face of the planet. Every few years they would come out with several possible photos, aged with the technology they possess. In some pictures she has blond hair, in others she's a red head, and once she even had black hair!

He looked up into the air. How long has it been since he's been to the lost world? It seemed like forever ago and nobody has heard from the Zeti since then. Why, though? Most bad guys he's met in his years don't simply just disappear unless they've died. Their evil deeds are always on the move. But not the Zeti's. They have simply become like Amy Powers, a legend lost to time.

* * *

 _How did I get stuck with such a sick child?_ It was the thousandth time the ancient Zeti has asked himself this question while tending to his gardens. He always thought too much when he was even around his garden.

As if she heard his thoughts a young girl-a _human_ girl-came from the blooming cherry tree. Her hair reminded him of fire flowing from the top of her head to her shoulders and somewhere between curly and straight. How did he get stuck with a human girl?

"I knew I'd find you here." She smiled. Her voice was weaker than it was last week, she's been coughing a lot more.

He still remembered when he found her over fourteen years ago. She was just a baby then and had come from nowhere. Nobody knew where she came from or how she got up to the Hex. In any normal situation he would've been quick to leave her to the elements but something about her made him go back and take her in. She wasn't accepted by the others quickly but she never cared, all she cared about was that he accepted her. It wasn't until ten years ago that they accepted this young girl as a sister. The weaker she got the harder her death was going to be.

"Jade, you are supposed to be resting!" He wasn't mad, just worried.

"I know," she moved to sit next to him. She enjoyed sitting among the garden with him. "But I…" she stopped to cough into her hand, "I felt well enough to come outside. I haven't been out in a while." She moved her hand so it rested on her knee, not facing him at all. He knew, though, there was blood on her hand.

He pulled a vile from the inside of his shirt. The essence from the earth below still glowed a bright green. He didn't know how well it would work, if it worked at all, or if it would just kill her. _I guess either solution is better than letting her die a painful death._

He handed her the vile. "Here, drink this."

"Thanks, Master Zik." She took it with the hand she didn't cough in. That proved his theory, she coughed up blood. He listened to her hold her breath and down the contents. She made a disgusted face. "This tastes…kind of funny."

He couldn't help but chuckle. "What else would it taste like? Candy?"

"I was kind of hoping it would."

The wind picked up again, blowing her hair in her face. On bright, sunny days like that one Jade's eyes matched the color of the grass; it was a light green that shined only on the brightest of days and only when she smiled with the sun.

They sat in silence, staring at the garden for a long while. The sun moved from its noon seat in the heavens. As soon as Jade realized where her shadow pointed she stood. "I'll be back in a few hours."

She always disappeared without telling him but he never worried until it became later than she said she'd be home. Zik didn't acknowledge her statement. He listened for her footsteps until he couldn't hear them anymore.

Whenever Jade wasn't around the garden felt like a lonely place to be. Even the plants seemed to lose their bright colors and life when she wasn't around. Her smile was too contagious for her to ever truly be a Zeti. He thought of the first time he ever saw anyone from the Deadly Six smile. Even Zor smiled once, but his smile looked out of place and kind of crooked. The only one who tried so hard to hide a smile was Zavok, in fact he burst into a fit when Jade still caught him smiling to himself and pointed it out. If Zik hadn't been around Zavok might have tried to hurt the human girl.

The wind blew faster and harder taking of the flower petals with it, following her out of the garden, as if to say good-bye.

* * *

Jade loved the wind, and clear skies, and days like today when everything in the world seemed perfect and she can pretend she wasn't sick. She always felt better on clear days. But when the wind slapped against the poorly made house it sounded like it'd fall down at any minute. The thought scared her.

When Zik had taken her in he made a house for her to live in because her soft flesh couldn't handle the elements the Hex provided. The house still creaked against the softest of wind but it stayed in place since…forever.

On days like today she loved sitting under an oak and imagined the world below. Nobody found this place until a year ago when a "visitor" stumbled upon it by accident and enslaved her brothers and sister and master Zik. He brought with him two more. She wished she could've met the two that freed her family but she was too sick to even move. Her fever that month made her delirious. She didn't remember anything about it.

She sat under the shade of the oak, which was twenty degrees colder than in the sun, and closed her eyes. In the back of her throat she could still taste the green liquid Master Zik gave her. It tasted like dirt and berries in the winter frost and clove. Her chest didn't hurt anymore, though, and she hadn't coughed since she drank it.

"You should be resting." Like Zik's statement earlier, it was more of a command than a comment.

"You sound just like Master Zik, Big Brother." She opened her eyes and invited Zavok to sit next to her. Jade never called anyone else Big Brother except Zavok. The title was reserved for only him.

Zavok sat next to her and they just sat in silence. Jade enjoyed moments like that one, when it was just her and him, and they sat together without the dumb arguments they used to have.

Jade looked at her hand. The blood on it was smeared off now and she still intended to hide it even though she knew she couldn't. The Zeti were too observant for a small trick.

"You look worse today." Zavok's voice always scared her out of her trance. It was so deep but it was also scary in a way, even when he wasn't yelling he somehow made himself terrifying. Did he even notice it? Sometimes, though, his voice calmed her, especially when she had night terrors. His voice would be the most calming out of all of them.

"I feel…tired. But I'm not sleeping in a house that sounds like it'll come on top of me." She heard it then, how weak her voice really was.

Zavok didn't say anything. He was never one with words.

She hacked into her hand and slowly took it away, hoping Zavok wouldn't see it. On her hand was some spit with a pink tint to it. Jade breathed a small sigh of relief and wiped the contents on her pants.

"You didn't cough up blood this time…you must be a little better today." Zavok said, an underlying surprised tone came out.

"I told you I felt better." But she could've gone without the aftertaste of the liquid mixing in with the leftover blood in her mouth. "Where'd you ditch the siblings this time, Big Brother?"

He didn't answer. He didn't need to. They were nearby. She could suddenly hear their voices faint in the distance, yelling at each over for something small and stupid.

What was the world below like?


	2. Chapter 2

Sonic watched the clouds in the sky move over the blue skies. It was still hard for him to believe the Lost World was just over the clouds. It was even harder for him to believe the Zeti were just sitting up there twiddling their thumbs but until he had proof that they were up to something there was no reason for him to do anything.

In his hands he still held Amy Powers' missing poster. Something about this child made Tails want to look for her. Anything that was important to his best friend was important to Sonic.

Tails ran up to him at full speed. "Sonic!" When Sonic sat up, Tails was trying to catch his breath. How long had he been running just to try and find Sonic? "We have to go to the Hex!"

"Why? What's up?" Sonic tilted his head.

"I have a theory but we need to go up and check it out."

He was still confused. It was rare that Tails was ever vague, but whatever it was got the little fox excited. Sonic nodded and stood. "Let's go."

* * *

Jade watched with amusement as Zazz and Zeena once again fought. She wasn't sure how the fight started, only that it was annoying Zavok. They both sat on a hill, looking over the area Zik used to train Zavok at. It wasn't at all shaded but the clouds got thicker as the day passed by so plenty of shade was provided that way.

Next to her Zavok got more and more annoyed but Jade was too surrounded in her own enjoyment to notice. She watched Zavok storm down and try to calm down the situation which almost always ended in some way of violence.

She heard a noise that was foreign to the Hex, but she heard it before when she was sick. It was too far away for her brothers and sister to notice, but close enough for her to at least hear. Slowly, she stood up and jogged in the direction of the noise. As she caught up with it the noise got louder and louder until it finally stopped. She didn't stop trying to find it, though.

"What are you doing, Tails?"

Jade slowed to a walk.

"Well…I'm actually not sure where to look?"

She hid behind a tree and peeked out to see if the intruders were there. How they were able to land in such a small area she wasn't sure. The thing they rode in must have been the "plane" her siblings described.

"Then what are we doing here?!" The blue hedgehog didn't seem annoyed or mad or just baffled.

Slowly Jade came from behind the tree. Their backs were to her so they wouldn't notice her.

The two-tailed fox started to unpack things from the plane. "Well I had a theory that Amy Powers may have landed on the Hex. Years ago Amy and her father went on a plane ride, her father was a pilot at the time, but they both disappeared. Since we found the Hex I thought what if they landed here all those-" the one the blue hedgehog called Tails stopped as his eyes fell on her.

Jade's heart stopped in her throat. Nobody was supposed to be here.

"Tails?"

Tails never stopped staring at her.

"Jade!"

 _If Big Brother finds them…_

She turned and ran in the direction she came in.

"Wait!"

Jade looked back. He didn't try to follow her. She found Zavok, Zeena, and Zazz where she left them. She felt her heart beating in her throat. She hoped Zor didn't see anything. He often followed her in the shadows and it was too hard to notice him.

"Guys! You won't believe it!" There he was, coming from the shadows again.

Her heart beat faster. She felt the cough coming on again.

"Sonic is back with is fox friend!"

"Why would he be back?" Zeena put her hands on her hips. "We haven't done anything for a year!"

The pain in Jade's chest was too great. She coughed violently into her hands for several minutes. She had to crouch down knowing full well that it wouldn't stop the coughing enough for her to breath normally. When it finally passed she took her hands away, afraid that the blood was back. There was only a little bit. She let out a relieved breath.

When she looked back up she couldn't help but feel bad. Everyone looked so worried. Even Zavok showed a hint of worry.

"I'm fine, guys." Her voice sounded more hoarse. "Who's this Sonic?"

"Nobody you need to know about." Zeena flipped her hair. "In fact you should probably go home."

"Well hang on, I wanna know!"

"Zeena is right, Jade." Zavok helped her stand. "Go home and rest. We'll check on you later."

"But…" It was useless, though. They weren't going to tell her who Sonic was. She looked around at everyone and sighed. "Fine. I'll see you all later." She walked in the direction of her house. It happened to be in the same direction as Tails and the blue hedgehog.

Jade followed the tiny indentations she made in the grass until she reached the tree she had been behind before. Tails was looking at a piece of paper in his hand and showing it to his friend.

"She doesn't exactly look like that but it's close enough."

She moved behind another tree and another until she was close to the plane.

"You saw her run that way?" The blue hedgehog pointed before taking off.

"Wait! Sonic!" The fox sighed.

Jade giggled a little too loudly.

"Are you back?" When Jade peeked from behind the tree she saw the fox moving slowly towards her. She slowly came from behind the tree. "Who are you?" Tails asked her.

She pressed her fingers to her lips. "Don't tell anyone I came this way. Especially Big Brother."

Tails nodded in agreement.

"I'm…" She stopped to cough in her hand. "Jade."

"I'm Tails. You sound sick."

She smiled. "I feel much better than I have been."

Tails still looked at her with worry, the look was something Jade was familiar with and one that she never liked seeing.

"Who was your friend?"

"That was Sonic."

"Sonic…" She knew Sonic from the stories Zik told her. "Thank you." She whispered the words before she knew what she was doing.

"For what?"

"If my brothers and Master Zik had destroyed the world below what would I dream about?" Jade sat near the fox child. "So did you come from below?"

Tails nodded. "Yes."

She grinned. "What's it like down there?" She leaned forward curiously. She didn't care that the sun was halfway down in the west.

"Well it's nice…not much different from the Hex, actually, but we have cities scattered around. The buildings are really tall. How did a human like you end up here?"

Jade's heart sunk in her chest. She didn't like being called a different species from her family, even if it was true. She didn't want to answer the question because she knew she would tell him she was a Zeti.

"Tails, who are you talking to?"

Jade jumped and turned around to run but the blue hedgehog was in her way.

"Is this who you were talking about earlier?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah but she seems a little timid."

Sonic looked her up and down, she supposed it was to make sure she wasn't a threat.

"I found her guys!"

How long had she been out for them to worry about her? She didn't know. She ran to the tree Zor was under. Out of the thickness of the woods her siblings appeared one by one. Zavok was really mad at her. She half hid behind Zazz, hiding from Zavok.

"What are you two doing back here?" Zavok growled.

Tails hid the paper behind his back while Sonic stood between them.

"We just wanted to make sure our favorite villains weren't up to no good again." Something under Sonic's voice told Jade it was only half a lie.

"We haven't done anything all year. What would make you even think that we were up to something?" Zeena folded her arms.

"That's exactly why."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't believe this."

"You aren't staying here." Zavok barked.

"I dropped something here the last time I came here." Tails was a better liar than his friends. "Please just let me look for it."

"Why don't we, Big Brother? I think it would be okay."

Zavok glared at Jade. She wished she hadn't said anything and hid more behind Zazz.

"You're out of here in three days." Zavok warned. As he walked away he roughly took Jade's arm. She looked back to see Tails and Sonic giving her questioning looks.


	3. Chapter 3

"Did she just call him 'Big Brother'?" Sonic was just as surprised as Tails. "I'm confused, Tails, why would they take in a human?"

Tails shrugged. "I'm not sure. They seemed to listen to her pretty well, though." He looked at the paper. "I think she may be Amy Powers."

Sonic looked in the direction the Zeti and the human girl, Jade, went in. _Amy Powers has been here this entire time._ It was hard for Sonic to believe that.

"Sonic, she's sick. She has to go to a doctor."

"They won't let her go from the looks of it, Tails."

"Then we'll just have to convince her to convince them!" Sonic has only seen Tails fired up like this a few times. When his heart was in it Sonic couldn't help but be fired up.

* * *

Zik had never been so disappointed in Jade in her entire life so he felt no need to start now. However, he was disappointed in his student for harming Jade, even if it was by accident. He left a bruise on her pale skin, she rubbed the purplish mark as if it would help the pain. Zavok showed no remorse as he told the story.

When he finished, Zik took a look at each of the Deadly Six. It was hard to believe it had been a year already.

"Has it been fully fixed yet?"

Jade tilted her head in confusion but stayed quiet.

Zavok nodded. "It can be started at any time, Master."

Zik looked at Jade. "How do you feel?"

"Well…I still have a cough but I'm not coughing up any blood." Jade wouldn't look at Zavok. She was angry at him still.

"You should go rest then." Zik could tell Jade wanted to object but she quietly and reluctantly got up and left for her room. The wind slapped against the house he built for her all those years ago. The house creaked and moved but the walls never gave way to the wind.

"When should we activate it, Master?" Zavok continued.

"I want to see if she starts to get better. Let's observe her for the time being. Instead I want you to make sure Sonic doesn't speak to her." He didn't want to voice his fears to the Six because it wouldn't put them at ease.

 _I can't let them take her away._ Zik tightened his grip on his cane and heard it crack.

Jade watched outside, angry at Zavok. He didn't need to grip her so hard! The spot on her arm turned purple in some spots but in others they were just beginning to turn blue and it started to look more like his hand. Jade sighed and looked out the window where the cherry tree bloomed and blocked her view of the mountains.

She heard the door slide open and close but she never turned to look. She hid the bruise with her hand.

"How does your arm feel?"

Jade didn't answer. She didn't want to talk to Zavok.

Zavok sighed and sat across from her. He wouldn't apologize to her, even if he wanted to. They sat in silence for a long while.

"Aren't you going to talk to me?" He demanded.

"No. I'm mad at you." It seemed like a childish thing to say.

Zavok sighed. "I…I'm…" He sighed again. "I'm not apologizing! You shouldn't have gone there in the first place!"

"Oh thanks. That's how you apologize for this bruise!"

"You should have gone home like I told you to do!"

"I was curious! They came from below."

"They could've taken you away from us! Is that what you want?" He got in her face, his hands behind him in a fist.

"Nobody is going to take me away from you, Big Brother." Her voice was surprisingly soft for someone who was angry. It was something that Zik taught her, soft anger and patience. She put her hand on his arm but exposed the bruise. "I promise I won't go anywhere."

Her words didn't comfort him. He pulled away from her reach and walked to the door, without turning his back he said, "Just promise me you won't go near them…ever again."

Jade didn't want to promise anything. She wanted to learn more about the world below. But she also didn't want Big Brother to be mad at her anymore. She sighed and reluctantly said, "I promise, Big Brother."

She was alone with her thoughts when he closed the door behind him. It was nice outside but now they would always keep their eyes on her and she knew it deep down in her heart.

The wind blew softly against the house again. It creaked and she swore she saw the walls move inward slightly. She didn't move from her bed, she just watched the walls until the wind died down.

Slowly, Jade got up and left for the garden. The move above her was full and lit the cherry blossoms in a beautiful color of pink. It was somehow different from the color they showed in the sunlight. She picked a blossom that was in full bloom. The fragrance was sweet, in no way like a cherry. As the wind picked up again it blew it from her palm and she watched it dance in the wind.

"It's beautiful at night, isn't it?" She didn't even know Zik had followed her out of the house. The old Zeti was always so quiet when he walked, there were times when even his cane didn't make a noise. There was a crack in his cane, though. She would have to fix it when he was sleeping.

"What are you doing out here? You should be sleeping like everyone else." He watched the cherry tree as he asked.

"I couldn't sleep with the house creaking."

"Because the house was creaking or because you were still angry?"

She sighed. There was no lying to Zik but she wasn't fully lying, she just didn't want to admit to herself that she was still angry. She sat with her back against the tree. Zik sat with her.

"Your bruise is healing quickly." Zik pointed out.

"Yeah… I guess it is." She didn't look at it, her eyes were pointed up at the sky. A billion stars sparkled around the moon turning some parts of the sky white. "Master, where is it that I came from? I must've come from somewhere." She's asked the question a million times and each time the answer was the same.

"Nobody knows. The world below, I suppose. Or maybe somewhere above." He shrugged. "I just found you here and that's all I know."

The wind whipped Jade's fiery hair around her eyes. It looked more orange than red in the moonlight. She pulled it all to one side of her head and held it there while she picked out cherry blossoms from her hair with her free hand.

"Why the sudden curiosity?"

Jade shrugged. "I guess…because they're back…the Sonic and Tails creatures. I was just…curious if I came from below." Something in Zik's eyes made her regret she asked in the first place. "I wouldn't leave the Hex, Master. Not even if that's where I come from. But if you were raised by someone who wasn't your same species wouldn't you want to know where you came from?"

Zik thought about it long and hard, then smiled. "When did you become so wise, child?"

She smiled. "Probably about the same time Zavok started liking me." She stuck her tongue out at him childishly.


	4. Chapter 4

The sun came up just like how the sun would come up on Earth, from the east with its hands painting the sky in many colors. Tails was still sleeping in the plane. It seemed odd to Sonic that they would willingly sleep on their enemy's home world.

 _I feel like I'm being watched…_ Sonic looked in the trees and around the plane but he couldn't find anything that could be watching him and Tails. There was hardly any life on the Hex except for the Zeti and the single human girl.

The wind carried a voice from the distance. It was two girl's voices. Would Tails be safe if he left him alone? Probably. He followed the voices.

"It doesn't look that bad. Maybe with some makeup we can cover up that nasty bruise." Zeena suggested. "Then we can do something about that hair. It could be beautiful if you only took better care of it."

* * *

Jade didn't invite Zeena to give her beauty advice. "My bruise isn't the point, Zeena. And leave my hair out of this!" The waterfall smacked the river and rocks, and the closer they got the louder it became. "My point is that they aren't going to take me away so there was no point in getting mad in the first place!" Jade sat at the edge of the river.

Zeena folded her arms, a habit she's done for as long as Jade knew her. "And how do you know they won't take you away? Have you asked?" She sat next to the human girl, but a little farther away from the river. Being this close to water made her visibly nervous. "Don't take it too personal, Jade, he just…cares too much about you. Well…isn't that an odd sentence to say?" Quickly she added, "He already has to live with you dying from this disease, I don't think any of us could live with someone taking you away."

Jade smiled. "Aww Zeena, I didn't think you could be so soft and sentimental."

Zeena blushed and pointed a pink claw at her nose. "Don't you tell anybody about what I said." She warned.

Jade laughed. "Fine, fine, just get your claw away from my face." Something in the trees behind Zeena didn't quite match up with the forest. She didn't notice it much before. A blue spot was coming towards them at unnatural speeds and his stop was just as unnatural as his run.

"What are you looking at?" Zeena turned around.

Jade's eyes were wide with what she could only assume to be fear but the blue hedgehog was gone just as quickly as he came. "Just a bird." She lied. She was a terrible liar and she knew it. Her face always got hot, and she always picked at her clear face, and she could never look at her siblings when she did.

"You're a liar. What were you looking at?" The Zeti woman demanded but she wouldn't give in.

"It was nothing, Zeena, honestly."

"You know, just because you put honestly at the end of a lie doesn't make it honest." Zeena made a hmph sound. "Whatever." She stood and dusted off the dirt she imagined. "Just remember to be back by noon…"

Jade knew better than anybody that when someone said "noon" what they really meant was "be back in time to feed Zomom lunch…and quite possibly everyone else."

"Okay." Was all she said, though, before Zeena walked back the way she came.

"You really are a bad liar."

Jade jumped at the voice, turned, and punched reflexively. The hedgehog was just too fast to be hit. "Shut up. I know it." She looked around nervously. Someone was watching in the shadows, and since she couldn't find the culprit she could only assume they sent Zor.

"What are you all jumpy about?" Sonic's demands were more gentle than when Zeena or Zavok or any of the Deadly Six demanded an answer. The only other creature that was ever gentle when they spoke to her was Zik but his "gentleness" was more the type a parent might use with a child.

"Someone's watching." She whispered too quietly for Sonic to actually hear. She stood and walked to the waterfall.

"Where are you going?" Sonic shouted to her.

 _I promised…and they're watching…but I have so many questions. What do I do?_ The only thing there was to do was to jump through the crashing waterfall. The cave inside was somewhat cold, colder than she expected it to be. She couldn't hear anything through the curtains of the waterfall.

 _What do I do? What do I do?_ The question took over Jade's entire mind, but while her mind was occupied her body went on automatic and followed the waterfall's cave. The deeper she went the darker it would get.

Sonic came through, landing with an 'oof' sound.

"Shh." She put her finger to her lips. _I know what to do!_ Her mind calmed down. "They're watching us very closely." She put her hands on the cold stone and let it lead her to the mysterious darkness she used to explore and knew all too well.

"What are they watching me for?" Sonic whispered. He sounded like he was right behind her.

"They're afraid you're going to take me away…or some crap like that." She whispered to him.

"Why would they think that?"

"I don't know." Jade didn't want to admit that Zavok secretly was softhearted.

The light that the waterfall let in seemed so far away now. "There should be a light in front of us soon." Jade whispered to herself mainly.

"Just keep going straight, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

The next thing she knew the hedgehog picked her up, holding her legs in one hand and his other hand pressed against her back, and he took off, going at an impossible speed. What she was most impressed with wasn't the speed but the fact that he could pick her up so easily. She wasn't very heavy but she was much taller than he was.

Soon, she was blinded by sunlight. "Stop!" She ordered but he had already started slowing down to a stop. He set her on her feet. It took her a minute for her feet to get used to the ground again.

"Welcome to my hideout." Behind her was nothing but cave but above them was the sun and sky. "This cave leads straight into the forest. But unless you're…well someone like you then you can't get in or out unless it's through the waterfall. The wall is even too high for most of the Zeti and it curves slightly so even if they could jump that high they'd have to climb a little still."

Sonic looked like he was slightly in awe. "How did you find a place like this?"

Jade shrugged and sat. "By accident. I fell down the waterfall once and the water happened to throw me in the cave. I got curious and ended up here."

"Wow." He exhaled the word in almost a whisper.

She played with her fingers. "Can you answer some questions for me?"

"Yeah, anything." Sonic's voice echoed through the cave into the sky. The sun was almost in it's heavenly noon seat.


	5. Chapter 5

Jade looked so nervous. Sonic didn't understand why she would be. Questions were mostly harmless…weren't they?

"Where do I even start?" The young girl whispered to herself. Maybe she wasn't nervous, she sounded excited.

"Then let me start." Sonic decided that if he didn't get things rolling they were going to be here for a long time and time was a commodity he couldn't lose waiting around for a question. "You know you're sick so why don't you go to a doctor?"

"I did when I was little but nobody here has seen this sickness so-"

"A _human_ doctor."

Jade's face morphed into several negative looks at once; disgust, sadness, surprise, maybe anger too. It didn't fit her face, the lines on her face showed more and it made her look older.

"They live below and I don't live there."

"So? You can still go to a human doctor."

"No I can't, Sonic! I won't either! I'm not leaving just for some stupid doctor!"

"But they can help you. It's possible that they can even cure you!"

"It's too late for me."

"Why do you say that? It's never too late!"

"Yes it is. When I cough up blood I also cough up a piece of my lungs…"

Sonic stared wide eyed. He'd never heard of someone coughing so hard so much that they lost their lungs! "I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

Jade shook her head as if trying to shake off a thought. "No, of course you didn't. How could you know?"

Sonic just stared at her. The hate in her voice didn't fit her either. Is it because he suggested a human doctor? "You do know you're human…don't you?"

"Except I'm not." Her voice was hard and hateful and dark. "I'm a Zeti, just like the Deadly Six and if you can't see that-"

"No you aren't! You don't look like them so you aren't them!"

"And you aren't human either but you are telling me to go down to a place I've never known and…if the Zeti forced you up here to live with them, eat with them, play with them, and you left a family behind how would _you_ react?"

Sonic didn't know what to say to that. Before he could even think of a response she started again.

"And how would you feel if you knew in your heart you were a Hedghog and Master Zik told you that you are a Zeti on the outside. How would you feel then, Hedghog?" She was screaming now. Her voice pierced and echoed through the cave. "I have to go." Jade ran out of the cave. She didn't look back at him.

* * *

How dare they act like she doesn't belong on the Hex? Jade was part of the Zeti's world! She was accepted! She was family! She was so offended that she wasn't sure what she was making for lunch. She had water boiling in one pan while in another she let oil burn some bread. She grabbed random foods from the pantry and threw it together in pots and pans.

"What are you making and for how many people?"

She jumped at Zik's voice, some homemade ketchup spilled at her feet. "I don't know…what am I making?"

Zik shook his head and checked on the food while she cleaned up the floor. "Are you okay, Jade? You've been very frustrated recently."

"Yeah…I'll be okay. The newcomers have me a little on edge."

The old Zeti smiled. "They have everyone on edge. Just be patient and they'll be gone soon." She watched him sort through her mess. Soon he had everything sorted out and even took over her job of cooking.

Jade looked out the window. The clouds started to get thicker and darker and it seemed to drop from the sky. It would rain again soon.

"What are you thinking about, child?" Zik asked as he chopped up some red bell peppers.

"It's going to rain soon." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth. Her mind was half on Sonic and Tails. All they wanted was to take her to an unknown world, a world she's dreamed about since she could remember. Shouldn't she be happy that someone wants to take her to her dream world? Something about the thought of leaving the Hex made her panic.

The panic subsided when she realized something. "I haven't coughed all day!" She announced. "Isn't that great? Maybe I'm getting better? Whatever you gave me worked."

Zik smiled a proud smile. He was proud of himself, Jade concluded. "That's wonderful news. Lets keep an eye on your cough for a little while longer, okay? Here, taste this." Zik gave her a spoonful of what Jade could only assume was broth to a vegetable soup.

She ate it and looked up in thought. Something was missing. "It needs some garlic." She grabbed some dried garlic and sprinkled it in. _Nobody is taking me to the world below. I'll just have to continue to dream about it…until the day I die…_

* * *

Zik left the house with directions to keep the soup boiling. Zavok was waiting outside for him, just as he instructed him to do when Jade came back. They both knew she snuck off to her secret hideaway to talk to Sonic but whatever the conversation was she wasn't going back to see him anytime soon.

Zik listened to the sound of his cane as it hit the stone walkway until they were far enough away that he knew nobody would hear them. But it was Zavok that started the conversation; "Everything is ready when you are, Master."

"I want to observe for a few more days, Zavok. If we destroy the earth now and we find out its effects don't last long she'll still die young. We have to be sure the effects won't wear off quickly."

The young Zeti made a disgusted face.

"It's better to be patient like the turtle rather than be like the hare. You remember that old story, don't you?"

Zavok rolled his eyes. "How could I not? It was the only story _she_ wanted to hear."

"And look at her now, patient and wise."

"I don't think it was because of the story, Master."

The Master let the conversation go. "Just two more days, my pupil."

Sonic kicked a rock while Tails did some research. "Here!" He exclaimed and jumped down from his plane. "Tuberculosis, it's an incredibly rare disease that was supposed to have been extinct years ago. Unless she's at her most advanced stages, Sonic, she can still be saved but…the only way would be to bring her to a doctor." The young fox tilted his head so he saw the sky, but his eyes were seeing something else. "Maybe," his head snapped back to look at Sonic, "I can see if the Chaos Emeralds could work too. If she won't come down we'll bring a cure to her."

Sonic smiled and nodded in agreement with the plan. "The only problem, though, is if both of us go they won't easily accept us back."

"You can't stay alone either, Sonic. I can take you down late tonight but I'm coming back up here."

Sonic didn't like that idea at all. "No, you're going to talk to Knuckles!" He barked out the order, something he didn't mean to do but he was too worried for his friend. If he left Tails here all alone and something happened…Sonic shuddered at the thought.

"Don't worry, Sonic. I have a feeling Jade won't let anything happen to me. This isn't something that's negotiable. But you'll only have about 24 hours until I come back and get you. Any time after that and they won't hear us out easily."

Sonic folded his arms. "Fine." The first drops of rain hit his nose and his ear, making one twitch. "Drop me off as soon as this storm clears."


	6. Chapter 6

As soon as Sonic was dropped off on earth he ran straight to Knuckles, who wasn't hard to find. It was raining just as hard here as it did on the Hex. Knuckles and him sat near the altar, under a roof, that held the Master Emerald.

After explaining the situation to Knuckles all fell silent. Even the rain seemed to stop and hold its breath waiting for the answer. "I don't know if they'll even work, Sonic." He admitted. "I would like to help out this girl but…If it doesn't work you'll only be keeping her hopes up for nothing. How long did you say you had?"

"Only today and maybe some of tomorrow."

Knuckles looked up in thought. "It may take a lot longer to get all of the emeralds ready to go. If you can't get them to let you stay longer then…we'll have to wait until they get desperate."

Unfortunately, Sonic knew exactly what that meant and he didn't want it to come to that point.

* * *

 _Twenty-four hours…Twenty-four hours…Twenty-four…_ What was the point of reminding herself of their time limit? Jade couldn't remember anymore. The sun hadn't come out yet and she was getting anxious to go back outside.

Everyone except Zavok and Zik sat in her house. "Where'd Zavok and Master go again?" She asked for the millionth time.

Zomom ran out of sandwiches to eat. Everything in her fridge minus the vegetable soup was gone. "Hopefully to bring more sandwiches."

Jade couldn't help but laugh. It didn't hurt her chest to laugh, in fact she could only feel a hurt in her tummy but it was a good hurt, the type that someone gets from laughing too hard. It had been a long time since she laughed like that. When she looked up Zeena and Zazz and Zor gave her a questionable look.

"I don't know what came over me. I just…couldn't stop." She started to giggle again and she had to sit down. "It feels good to laugh." She wasn't talking to anybody in particular but a wise voice answered her anyway.

"It's good to hear you laugh like that again." Zik commented as he entered the room. They were both soaking wet but they didn't seem to notice the difference. "It has been such a long time since we were all gathered like this."

Jade looked around. "Yeah it has, huh? Not since we were all kids."

"Some of us still are children," Zeena's comment was directed toward Zomom who didn't seem to notice or care. He was watching the rain from the window.

"When's the rain gonna stop? I'm bored!"

Zavok rolled his eyes and rubbed his temples while Zeena scolded Zomom to be quiet, which he did the complete opposite. _Not since we were kids have we done this…_

Jade was taken back to the old days, when she was sick only once every few months. It was raining just like it was now and everyone was hiding out in her home. Zomom complained of the very thing he hated; boredom. Zeena, still young, her horns had only just come in, yelled at him to stop complaining while she brushed her still short hair.

 _"Come play with me!"_ Jade had said.

 _"I don't want to play with you."_ He said it as if her disease were contagious.

 _"I'll play with you."_ This was the first time her and Zor played a game.

Jade smiled to herself. She wanted the moment to last forever.

"What are you smiling for?" Zavok asked as if she were in trouble.

"It's nothing, Big brother. I'm just remembering a few things."

Soon the rain stopped and Zomom ran outside as soon as he saw a butterfly and chased it around. Everyone took a perch in the shade when the sun's hands reached out except Zomom who just continued chasing the butterfly childishly. While everyone was watching the childlike Zeti Jade snuck off for the river to see what kind of fish the storm brought to them.

Just short of the river sat a very familiar fox creature. He turned around and smiled. "I'm so glad you found me!"

"Why?" Jade answered in an unnatural cold tone. "So you could take me to _your_ world?"

"To be honest, no. I think that's unreasonable and unfair. I think I've found another antidote to your disease but you have to trust me, okay?" Something in Tails' eyes, the innocence maybe, told her everything was going to be okay.

"Do you know what I have?" She finally asked him. "Does it have a name?"

Tails nodded. "It's called Tuberculosis. It's a very rare disease, hardly anyone gets it anymore except those who haven't been vaccinated for it." Jade leaned in closer, as if it would make her hear better. Somebody actually knew what she had and they were going to even explain it to her! She was so excited she nearly missed the whole explanation.

"Basically there are these bacteria that eat up the lungs. Fortunately some people do recover from it but…not in your case. Your immune system may be compromised."

After a moment of silence Tails continued. "So the cure, there are these gems called the Chaos Emeralds. It may be able to help you but there's also a strong possibility that I'm wrong. I'm going back down tonight to see what my friend, Knuckles, says about all of it. Will you be willing to at least try it?"

Finally, something that could possibly help but Master Zik's green vial worked for her just as well too. "Tell me what your friend says before I decide." Jade finally answered.

Suddenly Tails became uneasy and he stared to look around. She smiled and looked behind her. Faintly, she could outline Zor's figure. "Come out, Zor." She encouraged.

Slowly, the Zeti made his way from his hiding place to a well-shaded area behind her. "Tails, I'm sure you know my brother Zor."

Tails looked at him warily. Jade found it easy to ignore the tension while she caught fish. "Did you need some fish, Tails?" He gave the striped fish an odd look. "I promise it tastes better than you think if you cook it right. I'll show you how to cook it."

"But Jade, I don't think Zavok…"

"Won't like it?" Jade finished. "Don't worry, you're here to protect me right?" She didn't see the expression on his face but he came and sat with her. For an hour they just caught fish then followed Tails back to his plane. Zor made sure he stood between them as they talked. Tails didn't seem annoyed or worried, in fact he seemed like he understood the relationship and accepted the fact that Zor was merely protecting her.

Zor helped Jade set up the fire and cook the fish.

"Do you mind if I have a look at your lungs?" He took out a wand-type device. "It'll give me an idea of where you're at in the process."

Jade nodded slowly. The wand made her uneasy but even she was curious of how advanced her disease was at. Tails got closer to her until the wand was just inches above her chest. He waved it over a few times then went to his tablet device. By the look on his face it wasn't good.

"What is it?" Jade leaned forward.

"Well…" He seemed uncomfortable saying it in front of Zor. "You're in your final stages, Jade. If it continues you'll die in…only a few days. But it seems that it's stopped temporarily and the lungs have actually attempted to reconstruct themselves but as soon as you're sick again you won't get better. Your condition will worsen and…" He turned to Zor. "I'm really sorry." He said to him and showed the picture to him.

Zor's body shook. She's never seen Zor so shaken up before. As soon as Jade tried to grab his hand he ran off. She smiled apologetically at Tails. "I'm sorry. He can be very sensitive to this subject but…Zavok and Master Zik are even more sensitive to it. He probably is going to tell them." Jade could feel a type of heaviness in her chest like someone was pushing her lungs inward. It was now getting a little harder to breath. According to the fox once she starts coughing there's no way to stop it.

She felt a cold tear run down her cheek. It was almost her ending. "I should go." She took a few of the fish leaving a couple for Tails and walked back to her house. The sickness didn't feel real anymore and she felt like she wasted the entire time being better being angry at nothing.

* * *

Zik almost couldn't believe what he was hearing Zor say. Jade was getting better with the earth's essence but it was only temporary like he had feared.

"But he says her body is trying to repair the damage." Zor continued, his voice in awe.

Zavok turned to Zik. "This is it, right? This is the news you've been waiting for?" His oldest pupil was too impatient, sometimes. This wasn't one of those times.

"You said the machine was ready, correct? Let's see if it really still works." He walked along with them to the abandoned building Eggman had once used as his headquarters. Everything inside was dusty and barley worked except for the machine in the middle of it. It had a lot of dents from the Deadly Six trying to force it to work at some point before they found a way to repair it.

Zazz ran up ahead of them. From what it looked like to Zik, it looked like he was pressing random buttons before pulling down a lever on the far right. The screen flashed on. It was split into two pieces, one side showed the levels of what Eggman had called "energy" and other things that didn't seem important while on the other side was a video feed of the earth below them. It was lush and green, similar to how the Hex looked, but he also knew some of the earth was made up of giant glass buildings that were very foreign to them.

Slowly the "energy" levels started to increase yet nothing was happening. In a jar filled a small sample of the green-black liquid before alarms started to go off everywhere. Quickly, as if ordered by Zavok, he shut it all down. It was disappointing but it was a start.

"This is…disappointing. I'm sorry, Master, I really thought…"

Zik raised a hand to silence him. "This is a start, Zavok. Figure out what is wrong with the machine and we will start again as soon as it is ready. Make sure it's finished in a few days." He ordered.

Zor toyed with his hair in a nervous fashion. He took the young Zeti by the arm and brought him away from the group. Zik didn't need to ask, Zor broke down. "Tails said he was going to try to help with something called Chaos Emeralds. But even he seemed to think they might not work. Sonic may have everything ready before we can get the machine ready."

Zik stroked his long beard in thought. "We shall pay him a visit tomorrow morning then."


	7. Chapter 7

Sonic met Tails early in that morning. It felt like they hadn't slept in a few days but somehow the two managed to get the energy they needed. Tails seemed concerned as Sonic finished his story of what Knuckles had told him.

"I'll try but we might not have that long, Sonic."

"What do you mean? You can just hide from them, can't you?"

Tails shook his head. "It isn't that simple." He took out his tablet and showed Sonic the picture of Jade's lungs. "She isn't going to make it unless we get those Chaos Emeralds."

Sonic was horrified at the picture. It looked like half of one lung had many holes, some of which looked like had been badly stitched while the other one looked like it was half filled. How was this girl surviving with such a horrible disease? How was she even alive?

"She's got to be half dead…" he whispered aloud without meaning to.

Tails agreed with a nod. "You have to hurry, Sonic. She doesn't have long."

"I'll call you once we have them all." He promised. Tails gave him an extra tablet to call when he needed to and, at the speed of sound, he took off with a determination he's only had a few times before.

* * *

Jade couldn't believe it and was absolutely horrified. The coughing started up again but no signs of blood showed on her hands when she coughed. It was even more violent than before, though.

Zik caught her coughing while they sat in the garden, watching the cherry blossoms fall and the first signs of winter appeared. Then, Jade started to cry. "I don't want to be sick anymore." She explained to him even though he didn't ask. "And in truth I'm a little scared of what will happen to you guys without me. I'm especially worried about Zavok. He doesn't do well with emotions."

She wiped her eyes as Zik spoke, softly and slowly. "We'll figure it out, child. There's nothing for you to be afraid of." He put a hand on hers. "We have one flower that didn't bloom this time."

Jade looked up at the flower. He was right. It didn't even open. It remained a bud. "Maybe it'll be a winter flower?" She choked out the words through a sob. "I want to see that." Again she coughed into her hands. Still no blood came up.

"You've grown up a lot faster than the others of the Deadly Six. And as soon as you're better we can train you to be the official sixth member so I can finally retire."

Master Zik seemed so sure she would get better. Somewhere in the back of her mind she doubted him. "You'll never retire, Master." The sob turned into laughter. "We'll have to start calling us the Deadly Seven, instead."

Zik laughed with her. "You may be right, Jade."

It was simple times like these that she held in her heart, and she hoped he did too, because as soon as she was gone there would be nothing left to hold on to.

* * *

After Jade went home to cook herself lunch Zor came to Zik. Earlier that morning they tried to find the fox friend of Sonic's but he was nowhere to be found. However, when they looked in the same place this time, he was there. It seemed he was busy with something on his tablet. When he turned and saw them he froze.

"I believe you are supposed to be getting packed up to leave." Zik's cane never broke its rhythm as he approached. "Don't be alarmed, boy, I'm not here to hurt anybody." He stopped in front of the child.

"Then what do you want?" He tried not to come across as threatened but there was an underlying fear to his voice.

"I want you to go back home and to stop meddling in affairs that you don't belong in."

At first he seemed confused but Zik knew he was smart enough to figure it out on his own. Once Tails' face brightened up then darkened he continued. "Leave now, while you still have a chance."

"And if I don't?"

 _Rebellious child._ "You don't want to know." He warned in a dark tone before leaving with Zor.

"Have Zeena watch him." He commanded. "And go check up on the system. I want it ready by tomorrow morning."

Zik watched his younger pupil run out into the shadows and seemed to disappear in them. Everything seemed darker today than yesterday. It seemed as if the Hex was crying just as much as he wanted to, but he had to stay strong. If he broke down everyone else would too.

But there was no hiding the single hot tear he felt coming down. He was a father, he reminded himself, and no father should have to outlive his children.


	8. Chapter 8

Zavok approached Zik slowly. He hadn't seen him walk this slow since he was a child and he accidentally hurt Jade. "It might be ready, Master."

"Might be or is?" He walked with Zavok from the garden to the abandoned building. "They are very different things."

"It might not work again." Zavok admitted as they walked through the doors. Zazz once again went through the motions of turning on everything. Everything started up fine again. This time he watched closely and slowly he saw the trees beginning to die. There were no alarms going off. Nothing happened.

Zik smiled triumphantly. "Sonic might be here soon to stop us. Let us put in front of him many obstacles. Go find Jade, as well, and make sure she doesn't interfere." It was an odd thing to say, as if Jade were his enemy. But everyone knew that if Jade found out what they were up to she would try to stop them. She was afraid of death but she wanted the world below to remain as beautiful as the Hex above it.

* * *

Jade ran to Tails as soon as morning hit. Anxiously she awaited news about Sonic and his magical gems. When there was nothing to report she sat near the plane and watched the sky with him.

"This seems peaceful." He commented.

"The Hex is often a peaceful place. It was made special for the Zeti. Zik used to tell me stories that gods created it for us because we destroyed the earth nine times. The Hex was made for us to destroy or take care of as we please."

"So, what changed in the Zeti to make them not destroy it?"

"Boredom…responsibility….Who knows? We just simply stopped."

"It's an old fairy tale told to children." Zavok's voice was rough. The only time she's heard his voice like this was a year ago when he and Master Zik talked about destroying the earth below.

Jade's heart sank hearing his tone of voice. Was he planning on destroying the earth below again?

Tails got up, his body was tense and ready to run.

"Relax, little fox, I'm not here for you. Jade, it's time to come home."

Jade stood, her eyes, she was sure, showed how defiant she was. "What's going on?" She could feel it coming but tried to keep it at bay. The longer she did, however, the worse the cough would be.

"What do you mean?"

"You're so bad at playing the innocent one, Big Brother! Your voice is different! What's going on?"

Zavok froze. He didn't know what to say. She had him cornered.

Zik's cane came from behind her. "We need you to come so we can heal you, Jade. That's all."

Nobody paid attention to Tails. He gave her the tablet. "They're doing it again." On it was a slideshow of pictures of the earth. Slowly each tree and bush started dying. "I knew you guys were up to something!" Tails pointed a finger at Zik accusingly.

"If we don't do something she'll die!" Zor came from the trees near them. "You know it, Tails, I know…everyone knows she'll die. She's going to die anyway in the future, I guess, so what's the point of saving her now? That's what you're thinking, isn't it? What's the point of her dying so young? There are plenty of others who could die instead."

She couldn't hold it in any longer. She coughed violently in her hand. So violently that it hurt her whole torso. Blood clots came away in her hand. She shook. Fears demonic claws tried to take ahold of her heart.

 _Maybe it won't be that bad…but are billions of people and animals worth one person?_

Zazz came from the other side of them. They were surrounded. How would they get out?

"I have an idea," Tails whispered. "Do you trust me?"

As they approached they backed up to the plane. "Only if you trust me." She whispered. She knew exactly where to go. Tails went under the plane, leaving her with her siblings and Master.

"Please don't do this, Master!" She pleaded with Zik. "I don't…it's not worth the destruction!"

"My dear Jade, you'll understand when you have children."

Tears stung her eyes and she coughed violently again. She heard a "shhh" noise coming from the plane and when she opened her eyes a thick fog clouded her vision. She couldn't even see Zik through it.

Someone grabbed her hand and she followed it. By the size of the hand she could only conclude it to be either Tails or Zazz, and since this hand didn't run around wildly it could only have been Tails. As soon as they broke through the fog she led him to her secret hideaway.

"They shouldn't come in here." She whispered. Everything seemed to move around her but she tried to ignore it. They sat in the alcove, their backs against the wall. Then, Tails tablet rang. It echoed loudly through the alcove.

* * *

Sonic couldn't believe his eyes. The trees died right in front of him! Knuckles caught up with him, the Chaos Emeralds in a burlap sack, the strings tied around his chest.

"What's going on?" Knuckles demanded as Sonic called Tails. The video feed popped up, behind him was Jade. She looked sicker but she held her head high as if nothing was wrong with her.

Tails' look was very dark. Something was wrong. "Tails, we have all the Chaos Emeralds. What's going on?"

Jade coughed in her hand, looked in it, and then turned it away. Sonic imagined her wiping it on her pants.

"Some bad news, Sonic. I can't go anywhere. We're having a little bit of trouble with the Zeti."

Sonic then noticed their surroundings. They were in Jade's special hideout.

"I'm sorry, Sonic, but my brothers are too strong for me and Tails alone." She tried not to cry but the human girl was too in tune with her emotions. "Please, you have to stop them first!" She pleaded. "I don't want them to…to…"

Tails dropped the tablet. "Jade!" He yelled.

"Tails! What's going on?"

Tails picked up the tablet again. "She's so weak, Sonic. I don't know how long she has. I can't move or they might attack. But we're going to be in even more trouble if we get caught in here."

Knuckled smirked and presented Sonic with a Chaos Emerald. "These should get us there just fine."

Sonic nodded and looked back to the screen. "Hang tight Tails. And don't let Jade die on me!" The feed cut out. "Tell me how to use them."


	9. Chapter 9

The fox was smarter than Zik realized. As soon as the fog cleared he ordered Zazz and Zor to find them while him and Zavok walked back to the abandoned building. "Any problems?" Zik asked Zeena.

"No. It seems to be going smoothly. And even look at this." She pressed a button and up popped up a city. The people were baffled and panicking at the plants suddenly dying. "Nobody can figure out what is going on. I can't believe how unbelievably out of it humans are. The only one of them that seemed observant was the poor soul that crash landed here."

"Even he didn't know what to expect, though. That's why he crashed." _And that's how I ended up with an unbelievably sick child._ He tightened his grip on his cane. It split even more.

"What will happen when everything below is destroyed, I wonder." Zeena asked herself aloud.

Zik didn't care. He had only one mission and nothing was going to stop him.

* * *

Sonic and Knuckles arrived on the Hex at record speed. But with limited power that one chaos emerald held they were forced to land as soon as they got there.

"All right! I haven't seen some action in a while!" Knuckles was pumped up.

"We can't be playing around. We have to get in, shut it down, and get out as fast as we can." Sonic told him.

"Yeah, yeah, we went over this on the way here." He ran off ahead. Sonic followed him.

The building was supposed to have been abandoned but from what he could see on earth it was taken over once again by the Zeti. Outside of it was Zeena and Zomom. Where were the rest of the Deadly Six? He expected Zazz or Zor or Zavok but not these two clowns!

"We were expecting you, Sonic." Zeena didn't look up from filing her nails. As expected, she just wanted to groom herself before it all got ruined during the fight.

"It doesn't seem like you're prepared either."

"That's what you think." Zeena put her hands on her hips.

Knuckles turned behind them at the sound of a bush rustling. "What are these things?"

Sonic turned around. They were robots but none like Sonic had seen before. They were almost mimicking the style of the Zeti's appearance.

"We took the year to study robots that Eggman made and made our own." She explained. "Meet Zazz one and Zor one. They're going to destroy you here and now!"

"I've got these robots of you have the other two." Knuckles and Sonic were back to back. It felt like old times again. Back beyond when Sonic could remember. When they used to fight together all the time.

"Lets get them."

Sonic attacked Zeena first.

* * *

"We can't just sit here!" Jade yelled weakly. Laying on the cool stone floor made her go crazy.

"You're too weak to go out." Tails explained softly.

Jade laughed. "That's as far as you can tell." Slowly she got up. The world still spun so she would have to walk slowly but it seemed to have calmed since she nearly passed out before. "Tails, we have to try to sneak in and shut everything down." Her green eyes pleaded with his.

Tails shook his head. "No!"

Shortly after he yelled that they could hear Zazz and Zor. Zazz's laugh was unmistakable. They had no choice. They had to fight. They rounded the corner and stopped.

Zor shook his head. "You don't plan on fighting us, do you Jade?"

He seemed sad when she nodded. "I'm sorry but I don't want the world below to disappear even if it's destruction means me getting better. Please, before you do this think about what you're doing! Even Zeti have a conscience! Millions of lives are going to die just for me. I can't have that on me for the rest of my life!"

She waited a long while. She was surprised when Zazz answered, his voice sad and heartbreaking. "I don't care about them! I don't want you to die, Big Sis!" Without thinking he rushed at Tails.

Jade moved in front of Tails and punched Zazz. Tails and Zazz were surprised at how much power was behind her punch for someone so weak. However that one punch took out so much energy. She knew she couldn't do another one like it.

Tails grabbed a big branch from the side of the alcove. It looked like it had been brought here for firewood. Jade never touched it because she had no use for it.

"This will work nicely for a bat. When I give you an opening, Jade, run! You have to shut it down and give the earth back its energy!" Tails had a determination in his voice. "It's all up to you!"

She nodded. It was Zor's turn to attack. When Tails swung he made sure that Zor would fly right into Zazz. "Go!" He shouted but he didn't need to, Jade was already running. She had no idea where to find it or what "it" even was. All she knew was she needed to go find "it"


	10. Chapter 10

Sonic burst through the doors of the building. Zik wasn't surprised but the hedgehog was too late. The earth was on the brink of destruction. "Watch as your world ends, Hedgehog." He didn't turn from the screen.

"Is this all worth it to you? For one girl?"

"You don't understand. This isn't just for 'one girl' this is for family."

"Why? I don't understand it, Zik, you're destroying and killing millions of lives!"

Zik turned to him. Patient anger, is what he always told his pupils and sometimes, even Jade reminded him.

 _Patient anger, isn't that what you always told me, Master. Patient anger makes your opponent angrier and it even makes them mess up so badly that they lose. Patient Anger, Big Brother. Patient anger. Patient anger…_

Her voice sang in his head. He needed that voice. Zavok needed that voice. Everybody needed her voice. And he also didn't want to lose that contagious smile.

"It's all worth it. This is just the cycle of life. It will all grow back."

"When?" Sonic demanded. "It's possible that we can save her!"

"But you are unsure." Sonic froze in his explanation when Zik interrupted. "Tails told us even he was unsure that it would work. We know for sure this will. We've seen the evidence. If you're still that determined, Hedgehog, then fight me."

* * *

Sonic didn't want to fight him. He wanted all of this to end. "If that's what it takes." He said reluctantly and he attacked him.

* * *

It started to rain again. The rain was so thick that Jade almost couldn't see. She used her senses and her memory of the forest to find her way back to the garden. She searched around the garden, there must have been something Zik kept here. Wasn't there a journal?

She reached into his favorite tree where a bird once laid her eggs. Underneath the molding nest was a piece of paper. She unfolded it inside the tree and looked at it. It looked like instructions for a machine but not it's location.

She groaned and kicked the tree. "Where is it?" Jade yelled in the sky.

The rain was cold against her skin and she felt the ground come from underneath her, however instead of hitting the ground her head rested on something very warm. Her eyelids felt heavy.

 _What does my hair look like right now, I wonder?_

 _No why does that matter? Focus! Focus!_

 _I see a light…what is it?_

 _No! Don't go near it! Don't even look at it!_

 _But it's so warm._

 _Jade felt her eyes open but it still didn't feel open. "Where am I?" she wondered aloud. When she looked around she realized where she was. It was the Hex._

 _At her feet was a little baby being held by half a man. It should have been horrifying to see but it seemed familiar and she almost felt happy. Jade watched the story unfold before her eyes. In the distance she saw a middle aged Zeti approached. His beard was just turning white and his back was hunched over only slightly._

 _"I should leave you here to die." He told the baby as he scooped her up. "But there's something about you. Maybe it's time to take in a pupil. Someone needs to take over the Deadly Six, after all. Maybe that'll be you." The Zeti laughed as he walked away. "Or maybe you'll be eaten before that time comes."_

 _She recognized the laugh. It was Master Zik._

 _A wind seemed to blow from nowhere, transporting her to a different place in time. This was when she was four and just being introduced to Big Brother._

 _"Zavok, this is Jade. She'll be training with us."_

 _Zavok was small, at the time Jade didn't believe he would have been the biggest member. Jade pointed and looked up at Zik. "Big Brother?"_

 _"No!" Zavok snapped at her. "Za! Vok!"_

 _The young Jade didn't understand. Her eyes just lit up. "Big Brother!" she ran to hug him. He made a roar that sounded like a monster. She hid behind Zik._

 _Zik hit him on the head._

 _Another wind blew but this time all was black. It wasn't her time yet._

* * *

The hedgehog was finally defeated. After fighting for several minutes. The earth started to collapse in on itself.

The doors opened from behind and Zavok came in holding Jade. She was having a hard time breathing. Zeena dragged in Knuckles who was badly beat up and bruise. Her strength surprised Sonic.

Zavok set down Jade while Zik checked her pulse. "It's still strong." He said. "But it'll fade soon."

They were too close to the lever. He couldn't get to it.

Knuckles stood up. "Come on! I'm not done!" He yelled but it was obvious he was done. He stumbled a little in his walk.

"You can't even stand on two feet!" Zeena observed with a small laugh. "But alright, if you want."

Sonic pulled himself up too. "Come on, Zavok! Just you and me!" He challenged.

"You have a death wish." Zavok stood and moved next to Zeena, in front of Sonic.

One punch and Sonic was flown to the wall. Zeena was taunting Knuckles, with every punch she got out of the way. She took it almost like a game. Zavok picked up the hedgehog, lifted a fist, Sonic closed his eyes, but the punch never came. All he heard was a shout from an old man and a machine switching gears.

He opened his eyes and saw the weak human girl. She breathed heavily as if she had just run a marathon. "No more…"


	11. Chapter 11

"Please, Master, no more." She pleaded with Zik. The girl had completely taken him by surprise. He almost wished he hadn't taught her to be quiet in movement.

Everyone watched as the earth below restored itself with the essence they stole.

Hot tears escaped Jade's perfect green eyes. Her hair was wet and it almost looked like a bright but lifeless fire. "I don't want millions of lives to die just for mine. You all will be fine without me." Her eyes started to drop. He knew this meant bad news. "And I…" She dropped to the floor. He crawled toward the human girl, so pale and almost lifeless.

"Her pulse is fading away." His body shook.

"Knuckles, are you well enough to try to heal her?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Zik couldn't believe what he was hearing. They were going to help him still? Even after all that he had done?

"But we have to get her to a comfortable place. And you have to be willing to do everything I say."

He didn't want to go to such a low position but he had no choice. He put a hand on the young girls cheek then stood, grabbing his cane from the floor. "Zavok, take her and this echidna back to the house."

Zavok looked like he wanted to question his master but he did as he was told. They followed him. As they walked outside Zazz and Zor approached with Tails but stopped dead in their tracks seeing them. "Come along." He told the three.

Sonic was surprised at how sturdy the house was and how quickly the weather changed. It was nothing but a light drizzle now. Knuckles told him, Zavok, and the other four of the Deadly Six to stay behind while Tails checked her out. He wanted to wait till the very brink of death to pull her back but there was still a huge possibility that it wouldn't work.

* * *

Sonic messed with a rock while Zavok paced back and forth across the stone path. Zor looked worried to the point of being more depressed than he already was. He'd never seen Zazz so calm, it reminded Sonic of a sad puppy. Zeena wasn't even grooming her hair or checking out her nails or complaining that one of them was so obviously chipped. She was looking down at the ground.

Zavok stopped in front of Sonic. "When can we go in?" He demanded.

"I'm not sure." He said.

Zavok paced back and forth again.

"Would you stop doing that? You're bugging me." He knew it wasn't the right thing to say in that moment but he couldn't get himself to stop saying the words.

"That's too bad." He continued to pace.

The door opened behind Sonic, Tails was there. Something in his eyes was different. It broke Sonic's heart.

"Zavok, she wants to see you." Even his voice was different. It was sad.

* * *

Zik stood at the corner of the room, watching Zavok and Jade until Jade waved him over. She tried to hold both of their hands as tightly as she could but it slowly got weaker and weaker.

"My two favorite people are here." She whispered. "Tails said I didn't have…" she choked on something invisible to them. The sheets stained with blood. "I know you two were just worried. Love makes people do crazy things, I know that better than anyone."

Zik squeezed her hand. "You don't have to speak, Jade." He said softly.

"But I want to." It was getting harder for her to breath and talk. "Because if I am going to die I want you two to remember something. Love makes us do crazy things but think about what you're doing before you actually do it." She choked again. "And patient…and pat…" Her eyes fluttered close but it was apparent she wasn't done.

Tails pushed Zavok aside and checked her pulse. "Let's do it now." He told Knuckles.

"You," he pointed at Zavok, "I need space.

Zavok didn't want to move. Zik took his arm still and pulled him to the corner of the room. He could tell Zavok had tears in his eyes but he didn't want them to spill out.

"Be in tune…" Jade breathed out softly, so softly that they almost missed it. Knuckles didn't stop setting up the colorful emeralds. "Tune with emotions…Zavok."

Her body went limp at his name but she never stopped the slow, rapid breaths.

Zavok tensed up.

Knuckles took his place at the foot of the bed and the Chaos Emeralds lit up. Each one seemed to have been picked up by invisible hands and one by one they flew into Jades chest where her heart was.

With each one her body convulsed, she took a breath, and it did it again. It happened seven times, each one entered her body and almost seemed to have passed right through her. Tails almost seemed worried.

Then, the last one was the white one, it flew into her heart, her body convulsed, and she gasped for air but never awoke. The other emeralds dropped lifeless to the floor.

Tails looked at Knuckles, "What happened?" He asked.

"I'm not sure. One of them is lost!" They started looking around for it. "It looks like it did its job though."

Zik almost had to laugh. "It isn't lost." He whispered to Zavok. "It's merged with Jade."

It seemed to take them a while to figure that out. After thinking about it for a long while the echidna couldn't figure out how it happened or why, just that it did.

Nobody was really allowed to see Jade after that, at least not all at once. One at a time only the less rowdy members could come in, Zazz was the only member that couldn't see her yet for fear he'd disrupt her body. Zik didn't leave her bedside in all of that time.

* * *

The only thing Jade could remember was turning off the machine when she finally woke up. "Please, Master," she pleaded in a tired voice. "Please don't kill the earth below."

She felt a small hand wrap around hers. "Do not worry, child. The earth is fine just as you are."

Her eyes flew open. A single lamp next to her bed lit the room, and it showed Zik's tired face.

"What happened? Why is it so dark outside?"

"That's what happens at night." He joked.

She laughed. "Really, Master, what happened?"

Zik explained everything including the Chaos Emerald that bonded with her soul. At the end of it all she smiled. "Patient anger," she yawned. "That was the last thing I wanted to tell Zavok. Have Patient anger and be in tune with your emotions."

The next morning Tails acted as a doctor and checked her out.

"It's amazing! Her lungs have completely healed! There's no trace of the bacteria left." He was fascinated with the power he knew. "Much is unknown about the chaos emeralds. I thought it would increase her lifespan in the very least but nothing on this scale. There's absolutely nothing wrong with her. However, there may be some changes in the next year. I'll be stopping by to make sure your progress is fine."

Jade smiled brightly. "Thanks, Tails." She hugged him and picked him up.

"Um…you're kind of choking me." He coughed in her ear.

She set him down. "I'm sorry. I didn't think I hugged that hard."

Tails laughed. "Maybe not before but now you have full strength back in your muscles so be careful, okay? And if you suddenly have powers don't be alarmed by that either, that may come as a side effect from the Chaos Emerald. And if there are any effects that seem harmful I've left a tablet for you in your nightstand so you can give me a call day or night!"

"Can I see her now?" Jade could hear Zazz demand.

"Not until Tails says you can! I hear you're the most likely to harm her!"

"I won't!"

Tails walked down the hall to the front door.

"Master," she knelt down to Zik's height and wiped his cheek. "I'm okay, there's no need to cry."

Zik smiled. "When you have children you'll better understand why I'm crying."

Zazz tackled Jade from behind. She laughed while he hugged her tightly. "Zazz, careful, she's still recovering!" Tails scolded.

"I'm fine, Tails!" She wiggled around so she could wrap her arms around him. Soon, she felt more arms around her. She didn't have to look around to know it was the Deadly Six.


	12. Chapter 12

"Do you have to leave?" Jade watched her new friends pack up the plane.

"Yeah," Tails stopped doing his work to talk to her. "If we don't get back soon Eggman might try taking over the world again or something."

"You guys never really stop working, huh?" She looked from him to the echidna they called Knuckles, and then to Sonic who shook his head.

"Tails we're ready." Knuckles called from the plane.

Jade wrapped her arms around Tails and picked him up in a hug. "Thank you, Tails," she whispered to him before setting him down.

"Give us enough room to take off." Tails climbed into the plane while Jade ran to a hill where the Deadly Six waited for her. She watched her new friends take off. They wouldn't be back for a whole year.

Zavok put a hand on her shoulder. She took his giant hand in her small ones. "We're no longer the Deadly Six, huh, Zavok?"

The large Zeti chuckled. "No, I guess not. Not unless Master Zik plans on retiring."

Everyone looked down at the old man. "These old bones haven't broken yet. They still work just as well as when I was young."

Jade laughed. The Deadly Seven, a team of six Zeti and one human. Everyone slowly walked away until it was just Jade, staring up at the sky, until she finally went home.

* * *

Walking through the door of his home, Sonic couldn't believe the Hex was real still. It all felt like one long daydream he had so long ago. But the purple and blue bruises and the healing cuts and scrapes told him it was all too real. If Amy saw, she'd be all over him for weeks!

Tails walked through the door shortly after. He had a few minor bruising but that was about it. Either he gave up too quickly or they went easy on him.

"I can't believe it worked." Tails finally told him. "I thought maybe there would be a chance it wouldn't work."

"Really?"

"Well yeah. You saw her lungs, they were so bad. She must have been in a lot of pain, I don't know how she found the strength to move."

Sonic wasn't at all surprised. If it were him he'd act like nothing was wrong too, just so Tails wouldn't worry about him, no matter how much he hurt. To Jade, to keep her "siblings" in check, the pain would be nothing compared to the pain they would have had to go through if she died.

"Sonic, you've been quiet for a long time." Tails had a worried tone to his voice.

"I'm just thinking about how much I've missed my bed!" He lied as he walked to his bed.

* * *

Zik watched at how much life Jade suddenly had in her. She was no longer pale, the sun started to tan her skin, and she had enough energy to chase around Zazz and Zomom. One week passed since Sonic and his friends left the Hex with the promise of coming back in one year to check in on Jade and make sure she was making more progress than regress.

Zavok sat next to him, a small smile crept up on his face without him even knowing it.

"It's nice to see her like this again, isn't it, Zavok."

Zavok nodded. "She doesn't appear to be in pain anymore."

Jade attempted to tackle Zazz who was too fast for her. She tackled Zeena instead. Zeena didn't seem too happy that they disturbed her while she was doctoring up her chipped nail. Jade said something to taunt her and Zazz joined in which resulted in Zeena chasing them.

Jade went around and used Zavok as a shield, laughing so hard Zik was afraid she would forget to breathe. Zeena tried to tackle her through Zavok but he grabbed her by the tail and pulled her away.

Jade laughed and sat down. "Hang on, I have to catch my breath." She said half laughing. She was breathing hard, a small squeak escaped from her, but Zik could tell it wasn't too much of a bad thing.

Zik could hear Zazz doing something Zeena didn't like and it resulted in another chase. He smiled, he couldn't keep his eyes off of Jade. Her cheeks were flushed with sweat and red from the sun. Her fiery hair matched her warm personality.

Her contagious smile was back. It encouraged a smile on everyone's face.


End file.
